During the University of Alabama's NIT victory on Wednesday, Huntsville's Trevor Lacey must have felt like a star.

The crowd was chanting his name. Younger Alabama fans were coming up to him at halftime looking for autographs, and he even asked to take a picture with Julio Jones, which the former UA wide receiver was happy to pose for.

"It was great," Lacey said. "You can't take it to your head or anything, but it was all fun to me."

Despite everything going on around him, Lacey still looked on as the Crimson Tide defeated Miami 79-64 to advance to the NIT semifinals at Madison Square Garden in New York City. "The team played hard," Lacey said "They went a little cold, and Miami made a run, but they bounced back and finished them out.

"It looks like they're taking all their frustration out on everybody else for them not making the tournament. They're just playing hard and trying to win the NIT, so they can bounce back next year and try to make it in."

Alabama was one of the last teams left out of the NCAA Tournament this year, and Lacey was one of many who believed the Crimson Tide deserved a bid to the Big Dance.

"I felt like they should've gotten in because of their head-to-head meetings with Georgia, and a couple of other teams got in that shouldn't have," Lacey said. "Alabama had some big wins against some nice teams this year."

Even though it wasn't a sold-out crowd at Coleman Coliseum on Wednesday, Lacey was still impressed with the electric atmosphere. He even said the fans seemed more into it than when he came for the Mississippi State game in January.

After the game, the 6-foot-3 guard got a chance to go back to the locker room and meet with Alabama head coach Anthony Grant.

"We were just talking about the team and what I would do if I came, where I would fit in," Lacey said. "He said they're not a real good 3-point shooting team, and I'm a pretty good 3-point shooter, so a couple of shots they missed, he felt like I would've been able to knock down."

Lacey hasn't visited any other schools since his season came to an end a couple weeks ago, but he thinks he may be taking a visit this weekend to one of the schools remaining on his list.

Despite conflicting reports, Lacey said he is still considering all five schools on that list: Alabama, Auburn, Baylor, Connecticut and Kentucky.

At this point, he is tentatively scheduled to announce his decision on April 13, the first day of the late signing period, but may have to push the date back because of a conflict at his school.